2nd week of June 2010

Weeding Onions After a week of rain, it was time to catch up on the weeds. We spent much of Monday pulling weeds in the main garden and laying down mulch of newspapers and cardboard. It was amazing how much difference a day made. Pictured is a bed of leeks and onions where you can see the before and after effect. There is a certain pleasure in weeding and being able to look back in satisfaction over a clean bed. There are still a few edges that might justify using the weed eater but a few more evenings of heavy weeding should bring most areas to reasonable order. The plot with Bloody Butcher corn and sorghum will need the tractor and cultivator to go through this week to tackle the young green carpet that is emerging.

As we harvest the lettuce beds and pull some of the bolting spinach, I've started planting the next crops in the empty spaces. One area was planted with celery plus a small carrot bed and another section was filled with millet for fall decorations. Fathers's Day CardsThe last batch of squash and gourds finally went in the ground and I planted a new bed of lettuce seedlings that will get a shade cover to keep it cool and happy in the summer heat. I need to plant the next round of summer lettuce mix, plus start planting flats for fall crops like broccoli and cabbage. In gardening it is always wise to look ahead to the next season and what you need to plant now so you can continue eating good things in a few months. Here are some of the tasty garden treats that were part of a birthday meal at our house this week - the first new red potatoes and Ailsa Craig sweet onions. The birthday boy chose beef short ribs, oven fries, sugar snap peas and a dessert with strawberries, angel food cake and pudding. June birthdays are delightful!

My latest homemade paper and card project is making Father's Day cards. Here are some of the designs a friend 1st Red Potatoes and Onions and I created using dictionary pages, old maps, music paper, postage stamps, pressed foliage and other treasures. Some are also plantable cards and will grow sunflowers. These are available at the Local Roots market or from me for $3.50 while they last. For future card making I'm gathering more plant material to press like coral bells, pansies and rose buds. I'm also searching for more paper treasures like old nature field guides, children's vintage readers, dictionaries with interesting pictures, old music books, postage stamps, etc. The more dilapidated the better so I don't feel guilty cutting apart nice books. I will gladly swap cards or produce for books.